Prenatal,
fetal and neonatal care is gaining importance every year with
increasing awareness, demand and affordability for the latest,
improved and technologically advanced equipment that are available
worldwide. Premature birth has been one of the leading causes of
neonatal death globally, that kills more than 1 million newborns
every year. There are approximately 15 million premature babies born
every year across the globe that require urgent medical attention and
intensive care, which creates the demand for neonatal care equipment.
Prenatal, fetal and neonatal care equipment are also required for
numerous other applications, such as treatment for hypothermia,
jaundice management, fetal and neonatal monitoring, respiratory
assistance and others. New and technologically advanced equipment in
the prenatal, fetal and neonatal equipment market will further
provide growth opportunities to this market in future.

Some
of the major prenatal, fetal and neonatal equipment available in the
global market are ultrasound & ultrasonography, fetal dopplers,
infant warmers & incubators, phototherapy equipment, and
respiratory assistance & monitoring devices. Among these,
respiratory assistance and monitoring devices are the largest
sub-segment with over 40% share of the neonatal equipment market. The
key factor responsible for the growth of the prenatal, fetal and
neonatal equipment market is increasing incidences of premature
births worldwide. Africa and Asia are the largest contributors
towards the premature newborns, with Africa exhibiting highest
incidence rate of premature births, which was 12% of the overall
births in the region in 2005. However, the U.S. exhibits the second
highest incidence rate of premature births with 10.6% of all births
in the region in 2005. The premature babies often require urgent
medical attention and thus, require various neonatal care equipment.
Increasing age of maternal population is also leading to a number of
complications that require various prenatal, fetal and neonatal care
equipment. Rising awareness levels along with increasing
affordability of the population especially in the emerging economies
will further help the growth of this market in future. Increasing
demand for improved and technologically advanced equipment such as
double walled closed incubators, highly portable fetal dopplers will
further add to the growth of this market.

North
America dominates the global prenatal, fetal and neonatal equipment
market, with more than 30% share in 2012 in terms of revenue,
followed by the European market (over 25%). Major factors
contributing to the leading position of the North American market are
high incidence rate of premature births, increasing age of maternal
population and high level of awareness, demand and affordability for
various prenatal and neonatal care equipment in the region.
Asia-Pacific is expected to show the highest CAGR of 7.8% during the
forecast period from 2013 to 2019 in the global prenatal, fetal and
neonatal equipment market. Key factors responsible for the region's
high growth rate will be high incidence rate of premature births,
high birth rate, increasing awareness and affordability of the
population and rising demand for advanced equipment and devices for
prenatal and neonatal care.